The peaceful village of Felindre high above Swansea is the unlikely setting for a stand off over the proposed National Grid pipeline, which is due to take gas from Milford Haven to Gloucester. Villagers say their lives and their farms will be forever blighted by the pipeline. They are concerned about the safety of living so near to liquified gas, as well as worried about the disruption during installation.

And they say it's ironic that in the year Liverpool City Council has apologised to Wales over Tryweryn, another utility is ignoring the views of a Welsh speaking community primarily to deliver benefits to England. CLA Wales members David Edwards and Anthony Stone told President Mark Hudson during his visit to the area that they are determined to make a stand to save their properties.

Civil engineer and surveyor, David Edwards, and his wife, Mary, breed horses on 45 acres at Gelli Wern Farm. They fear there could be as many as four massive pipelines going through one field. And they're angry about what they perceive as a lack of communication on the part of National Grid.

"We're determined to fight this", he said. "We won't allow them on our land to do a survey and they can't go for compulsory purchase without a survey.

"We will be in touch with our AM, Edwina Hart, because we understand part of the planning consent is that the gas is to be used in Wales. But it isn't, most of it is going to England.

"It's devastating and the nuisance will continue for four or five years. It's going to dramatically reduce the value of our property. Every bit of gas coming out of Milford Haven is going to go through our fields and probably more than once".

Anthony, who lives at Cilfaen Farm, and who is a member of a Welsh speaking family, has farmed in the area for generations. He runs a small expanding dairy herd on a mixed farm, with his wife, Janis, their six children and his parents.

It's very much a traditional way of life and Anthony would like one of his children to carry on with it. He says the pipeline will put all of that at risk, because it is splitting the farm in half.

"This is just a bombshell", added Janis. "The most worrying factor is that we are living on a time bomb and that is the legacy that we are giving to our children.

"We don't know what the effect will be in years to come of heavy farm machinery travelling over these pipelines. Who knows what will be the effect of the vibrations?"

A major concern is that a possible pumping station near the old steelworks site could mean that the gas runs through the land belonging to David and Mary Edwards, as well as Anthony's, before being compressed and returned back through the same field.

The dispute at Felindre is a part of mounting concern over the plan to reroute the giant pipeline through the scenic Tywi Valley which has some of the finest farmland in the country and which attracts three quarters of a million visitors a year. The original plan for a shorter route over the southern fringe of the Brecon Beacons had raised concerns with the National Park authority.

CLA South Wales Director Jonathan Andrews is urging the National Grid to take on board concerns over disruption and disturbance to farming businesses, as they consider the implications of some rerouting. Their findings are due to be made available by mid November.

"We are in discussions with National Grid about this", he added. "We hope they will make known their proposals as soon as possible so that our members know where they are.

"We trust they will take on board the considerable concerns we have expressed over disturbance and disruption. It must be remembered that they are presently proposing to go through some of the best agricultural land in the country, yet we haven't been furnished with the reasons as to why they are proposing the longer route, running west and north".

CLA President Mark Hudson questioned whether a detour of nearly a hundred kilometres to avoid the National Park was justifiable in terms of cost to the community.

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